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Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:35:32 +0200
From: Joachim Jakobs <press a fsfeurope.org>
Subject: [FSFE PR][EN] FSFE offers to help companies adhere to Free Software
licence terms
To: press-release a fsfeurope.org
Reply-to: press a fsfeurope.org
Organization: FSFE-Press Office
FSFE offers to help companies adhere to Free Software licence terms
The terms of the GNU GPL licence have been confirmed as binding
once again, with a German court ruling that Skype was failing
to uphold its obligations as a distributor. FSFE wants to help
other vendors understand their GNU GPL obligations.
Harald Welte of gpl-violations.org took Skype to court in Munich,
Germany, regarding misuse of GNU GPL code he wrote for the Netfilter
component of the Linux kernel. This is the first time a non-German
company has been convicted for GNU GPL licence violations, though the
gpl-violations.org project has reached numerous out of court
settlements with various vendors in the past.
Skype had been selling the SMC WSKP100 VoIP telephone without providing
either source code or a written offer for the source code with the
product itself. Though Skype later included a supplementary text to
the product which referred to the use of GPL software and contained
URLs to source code downloads, this also failed to meet the terms
contained in the GNU GPL licence.
The ruling of the German court in favour of Harald Welte is welcomed
by FSFE. "Adhering to the terms of the GNU GPL is not difficult, and
this case re-emphasises the importance of doing so, " says Shane
Coughlan, Freedom Task Force coordinator at FSFE. "Skype did not
recognise this and unfortunately had to be reminded of their
obligations in a court of law. While many vendors are working
pro-actively to resolve licensing issues, problems remain in the
European market place. We would like to see them resolved as quickly
and as amicably as possible."
"The main focus of the gpl-violations.org project is to fix problems
vendors have with shipping products that contain GNU GPL code," says
Armijn Hemel, an engineer at the gpl-violations.org project. "We want
to work with vendors to implement long-term solutions to compliance
issues. It is our wish to ensure everyone operates according to the
same terms and rules, as decided by the authors of the code in
question."
There are several ways that companies distributing GNU GPL code in
Europe can get help and advice. Armijn Hemel, an engineer at the
gpl-violations.org project, offers compliance services for embedded
devices. FSFE's Freedom Task Force has also recently launched
professional consultancy services for businesses making use of Free
Software in their products.
"There are avenues of information and advice for businesses using Free
Software," says Shane Coughlan. "One of the purposes of the FTF is to
help companies avoid costly mistakes. Where the FTF can help people,
we will. If we don't have the answers in-house we will help guide
people to the external information or expertise they need. The one
thing I would like to stress is that businesses should not and cannot
ignore these issues."
The Freedom Task Force can be found at http://www.fsfeurope.org/ftf
The Freedom Task Force can be emailed at ftf a fsfeurope.org
About the Free Software Foundation Europe:
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation
in the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these
issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving
people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are
central issues of the FSFE.
About gpl-violations.org:
In the past 30 months, gpl-violations.org has helped uncover and
negotiate more than 100 GPL violations and has obtained numerous
out-of-court settlement agreements. The gpl-violations.org project
is a not-for-profit effort to bring commercial users and vendors of
Free Software into compliance with the licence conditions as set
forth by the original authors. The project was founded and is
managed by Mr. Harald Welte, a Linux Kernel developer and Free
Software enthusiast.
For more information on the project, its mission, milestones and
goals, please see http://gpl-violations.org
Contact:
You can reach the FSFE switchboard from:
Belgium: +32 2 747 03 57 ext 408
Germany: +49 700 373 38 76 73 ext 408
Sweden: +46 31 7802160 ext 408
Switzerland: +41 43 500 03 66 ext 408
UK: +44 29 200 08 17 7 ext 408
Shane Coughlan, FTF Co-ordinator, FSFE extension: 408
Joachim Jakobs, Media Relations, FSFE extension: 404
mobile: +49-179-6919565
Further information: http://fsfeurope.org
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